Fuel-feeding system for internal-combustion motors



Lc. COULOMBE. vFUEL FEI-:DING S YSTEM FO8 INTERNAL COMBUSTION MOTORS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30,-1918.

1,4Q6,157, I Patented Feb. 7, 1922 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. C. COULOMBE. y FUEL FEEDING SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION MOTORS.l

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1918.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922h 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

*I Z @NVE/won UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH C. COULOMBE, 0F DRACUT, MASSACHUSETTS.

FUEL-FERDING SYSTEM FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION MOTORS.

T 0 all/whom t may concern:

.Be it known that l, JosnPH C. CoULoMBE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dracut, in the county of Middlesex and' State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful mprovelnents in Fuel Feeding Systems for lnternal-Combustion Motors, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to improvements in fuel feeding systems in which suction is utilized to draw the fuel from a main tank to an auxiliary tank at a higher level and fed from there to a carburetter by gravity; and the objects of my improvements are first, to provide a simple .and positive mechanism in the operating chamber; second, to provide a System that is accessible and easily taken apart; third, to provide means for starting the motor on a .high grade fuel and to gradually change to a lower grade fuel; fourth, to provide an accessible strainer in the distributing' chamber; fifth. to provide against the fuel flowing by gravity from the main tank; and sixth, to provide means to increase the operating suction on wide open throttle.

l attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the vacuum tank. Fig. 2 is a side view of valve stems 22 and 2G, showing the off-set bends 23 and 34 coi-operating with toggle levers 24 and 32. Fig. 3 shows a plan View of the spring toggle mechanism.. Fig. 4 shows the complete installation'as applied to a motor Vehicle. Fig. 5 is a cross section of the suc tion increasing device 58. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same device. Fig. 7 is a side view vshowing method 'of manual icontrol. Fig. 8 is a sectionaly elevation of a modified form of device 58.

Fig'. 1, 1 represents an outer shell` having a llange 2 at its ulpper open end. 3, a shell forming body of chamber 4, soldered firmly to a flanged top 5 at its upper end. 6, a flange at the lower extremity of chamber 4 and having a removable plate 7 clamped thereto, forming a closed chamber. The shell 3 being of just enough smaller diameter than shell 1 to allow telescoping one within the other and forming a lower chamber 8. The flanged top 5, of upper chamber, resting on flange 2 of outer shell 1 and pref- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

Application filed September 30, 1918. Serial No. 256,246.

erably fastened thereto by one or more screws. A vent tube 9 runs through chamber 4 and, with funnel 10, serves as a priming means. A resilient washer 11 serves to make an air tight joint for chamber 4.

A fuel tube 12 runs through chamber 4, nut 13 serves to form a shoulder and the whole firmly soldered to plate 7 and removable therewith, the upper portion projects through top 5 and an airtight joint made by means of resilient washer 14 and union nut l5. A series of holes 18 near the bottom of tube 12 allows free fuel flow to chamber 4. 19 is a valve seat near theV upper portion of tube 12, while its lower extremity serves as a valve seat forV valve 21. A valve stem 22 has securely fastened to each end valves 20 and 21. A U-shaped bend 23 in stem 22 vfurnishes shoulder stops engaged by end of toggle lever 24, through slot 25 1n walls of tube 12.

vAir tube 26 is fastened to plate 7 in same manner as tube 12, it protrudes through chamber 4 and an air tight joint is formed by means of resilient washer" 27 and suction union piece 28. The extremities of tube 26v form valve seats for valves 29 and 30, said valves being connected by means of valve stem 31 and are operated by toggle lever 32, through slot 33l f tube 26, by means of shoulders formed by the U-shaped section 34 in stem 31. Float 35 operates toggle levers 24 and 32 against resistance of springs 36 and 37, by means of float stem 38 and pivot 39. 40 and 41 are guide bushings for upper and lower ends, respectively, of lloat stem 38.

An expansion pocket 42 is provided in the wall of chamber 4 by soldering a piece of metal 43 on the inside wall of chamber 4. Openings 44 and 45 allow the expanding liq.- uid access to the pocket. A hole 46 insures atmospheric connectionv forthe lower chamber 8, through the slight space between the shells 1 and 3.

A tubular strainer 47 is inserted in bottom A stand-pipe the flow of fuel returning from main tank. The fuel line 16 is inserted through the top of tank 52 and has aportion 55 extending towards the rear, instead of running immediately forward as customary, which prevents a gravity flow from tank 52 should it accidentally be in a higher plane than the auxiliary tank 56 forms an air trap in the line to break the syphon action.

The sourceof suction'here shown is the engine intake, through the manifold 5 7.

A device for enhancing the suction to operate the vacuum feedl system is introduced somewhere in the suction line. The purpose of this device 58 is. to change .a large volume of comparatively low suction to a smaller volumeof comparatively higher suction. This is accomphshedby inducing atmospheric air into the suction line, operating in conjunction withthe carburetter. On a closed throttle and high suctiony in the manifold, the device is inoperative, thereby is put into operation.

l advantage,

ate the vacuum tank, and with the not interfering with carburetion when it is most easily deranged. As the volume of flow of gaseous mixture increases with the opening of the throttle, a considerable amount of air may be induced without noticeably impairing the mixture, and as it is with the increased volume that the suction drops lower and lower, then it is that the device The connection 59 is placed in the suction line in the direction of air flowtowards the manifold. Atmospheric air is admitted through holes 60, byvalve 61, through port 62, through converging nozzle4 63 and diverging nozzle 64, increasing the suctionat point 65,/ leading to channel 66, valve 67, channel 68, valve 69 and out through connection 7() to operating chamber 4. The valve .61 is carried by a diaphragm 71 and is drawn to its seat when the suction is sufiicient to overcome the spring resistance of the diaphragm.

When a vacuum fuel system is operated from the intake 'manifold 0f a motor, a restriction is generally placed in the suction line, in commonpractice it is a drill hole of, .040 inches diameter. This is lto prevent disturbing carburetion on closed throttle. On a comparatively wide open throttle a much larg r hole could be used to very good as `it is then that there is trouble in getting suicient suction to properly operuse of such a small hole the least small leak in the vacuum feed s. stem makes matters a great deal worse. o overcomethis difficulty, I provide the valve 67. which allows a largev opening on low suction (wide open throttle),

but is held to lts seat against the spring resistance 'of diaphragm 72 on high suction f (closed throttle), allowing only small hole 7 3j to be operative. Another form of this valve is shown inV my co-pending application on a Jan. 15, 1916, in Fig. 1, parts designated as y 37, a8, a9 and 40.

In Fig. 8 is shown another form of device 58. Instead of -spring operated valves, ball valves 77 and 82 are used, their weights being such as to take'the place of the spring iesistance of the diaphragms 1 and 72 of 1g. 5. is held to its seatl and the device becomes inoperative, on low suctions the valve` drops, allowing the induction of air through channel 78, nozzles 79 and 80,- to the intake manifold, thereby enhancing the suction in annular space 81 leading lto ball valve 82, valve 88 and ort 84 to the vacuum feed mechamsm.

On high suctions the ball valve 77 n high suctions the ball valve 82 is ing`83 to be operative.

here are times when it may be desirable to positively place the device 58 out ofoperation, such as when starting in cold weather. I therefore provide a manually operated means for doing this. A spring fork having the ends 85 and.8 6 is pushed forward to engage the heads of valves 61 and 67, pressing said valves against their seats and there-- by making the device inoperativej The spring fork ends '85 and 86 are attached to a handle 87 and carried back to a place accessible from'the drivers seat, as on the dash or steering column (not shown).

In certain types of motors the suction pulsation requires theuse of check valves between the source of suction and the operating mechanism of the vacuum tank. There are two forms of check valves used for this purpose. One is the common ball check. the other is a light 'disc valve. shown in Aa co-pending application, Serial No. 72,193.v in Fig., 1, as .parts 36 and 37. The ball check is the more dependable, having a smaller seating surface, it is less likely to stick. On the other hand, the disc valve is v more efficient, as it has less weight for .the

Vsame area of opening. In order to obtain a still more elicient valve than the disc type,

ball type, tion attached to a thin disc of larger area, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8.` Fi 8, 88 is a ball-shaped valve part attache to disc 89, whose diameter vis only'slightly Vless than that of chamber 90. One or more holes 91, in disc 89, insure sufficient passage for the air when valve 88 is open. ,One or more projections 92 limit the movement of the disc' and insure the free passage of air.

`In Fig. 5, 69 is the valve part attached disc 74, having perforations 75 and stops 76. `The operation isas follows:

The vehicle having been stopped .while running on a low grade fuel, the valve 53 I provide a ball-shaped valve pory is opened to drain contents of'c-hamber 8, it

in through funnel 10. Push rod 87 is set to the inoperativel position and the motor is started, after which the rod may be returned to its normal position. The motor, while. running on almost closed throttle with no load, will produce a high suction in the intake manifold and the valves 6l and 674 will be drawn to their sea-ts so that device 58 will be inoperative, until such a time as the motor is la'boring under load with practically wide open throttle then, with the drop of suction in the manifold, the valves 61 and 67 will open and deliver more eHective suction for operation.

The float being in the position shown, valves 21 and 30 will be closed and valves 20 and 29 open. rlhe suction, entering by valve 29, will cause fuel to enter chamber 4, from tank 52, through fuel line 16 and valve 20. As the fuel level rises, the float will rise with it, forcing toggle lever pivot 39 beyond the neutral point, when the springs 36 and 37 will force lever 32 down, knocking open valve 30 and closing valve 29. This will allow air to enter chamber 4 through valve 30 and slot 33, reducing the high vacuum and releasing valve 2l, which will be opened and valve 2O closed by the springs forcing down lever 24, stopping the flow of incoming fuel and allowing the fuel to drop to chamber 8. The float will gradually drop with the fuel level until pivot 39 is again below the neutral point, when the levers 24 and 32 will resume their upward position, closing valves 2l and 30 and opening valves 20 and 29, when the operation will be repeated until lower chamber 8 is :filled to a level approximating the level of valve 30. This level will remain practically constant, regardless of the level of fuel in chamber 4, as the atmosphere is admitted to chamber 4 only through valve 30 as long as. the motor is running, when the motor stops, however, air Willgradually leak by valve 29 from the manifold, unless it is always absolutely air tight, allowing the liquid level in the two chambers to equalize. ln order to avoid any danger of possible derangement of flow to carburetter, due to this change in level, an overflow tube 50 is provided which drains the excess level when the motor stops.

Having described myv invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an apparatus of the character described, a receptacle having a suction connection, an atmospheric connection, a fuel outlet connection, a valve controlling one of said connections, a float in said receptacle operatively connected totwo levers, said levers being fastened to a movable pivot and extending on opposite sides of said pivot, a

spring connection between said levers extending on opposite sides of said pivot, and one of said levers arranged to operate said valve. y

2. Ina device of the character described, a receptacle comprising two chambers, an atmospheric connection for the lower chamber, a closed pocket attachedto the inside Wall of the upper chamber, the lower end of said pocket having communication to the lower chamber and the upper end of said plfcket having communication to the atmosp ere.

3. ln a motor vehicle, an auxiliary fuel tank located above the fuel inlet of the motor, a main fuel tank located below the level of said auxiliary tank, a fuel line connecting said tanks and an air trap in said fuel line to break the syphon action to prevent gravity low from said main tank to said auxiliary tank.

4. ln combination with an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a source of suction, a suc-tion line connecting said tank with said source of suction, and an air inducing means between said tank and said source of suction adapted to increase the suction produced by said source of suction.

5. ln combination with an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a source of suction, a suction line connecting said tank with said sourceI of suction, an air inducing means between said tank and said source of suction adapted to increase the suction produced by said source of suction and adapted to operate only when the suction in said suction line drops below a certain predetermined point.

6. In combination withA an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a source of suction, a suction line connecting said tank with said source of suction, an air inducing means between said tank and said source of suction adapted `to increase the suction produced bysaid source of suction, and manually operated means for making said air inducing means inoperative.

7. ln combination with an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a source of suction, means of communication between said tank and said source of suction, and an automatic means of increasing the area of opening in said means of communication when the suction in said source of suction drops below a certain predetermined point.

8. In combination with an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a source of suction, means of communication between said tank and .said source of suction, said i of said openings.

9. In combination'with an internal combustion motor, an auxiliary fuel tank adapted to be operated by suction, a sourceof suction, aI suction line connecting said tank withsaid source of suction, a check valve `between said source of suction and said suction line, said valve having' an enlarged rear portion of greater cross-sectional area than the forward portion engaging the.v

valve seat. y. 10. In an apparatus of the class described, a receptacle comprising an operating chamber and a discharge chamber, said operatin chamber having a suction connection an an atmospheric connection in its top and .bottom respectively, saidconnections being in line with one another, a valve spindle carrying a valve at both ends and adapted to alternately close and open said suction and atmospheric connections, a float in said operating chamber |operatively connected to said valve spindle, and a fuel inlet and fuel o-utlet for said operating chamber.

11. In an apparatus of the class described, a receptacle comprising an operating chamber and a discharge chamber, vsaid'operating chamber having a suction connection and an atmospheric connection in its top and bottom respectively, saidl connections being in line with one another, a valve spindle carryingr a valve at both ends and adapted to alternately close and open said suction and atmospheric connections, a float in said operating chamber operatively connected to said ,valve spindle, a tube connected to said atmospheric connection and disposed so as to axis and adapted to rest on deliver atmospheric air to said operating chamber above the fuel level therein, a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet forvsaid operatingl axis, and a removable bottom for said upper chamber. l

'13. In a device of the character described, a receptacle comprising two chambers, the

lower chamber composed of an upwardlyv opening vessel having a rim flange extendin away from its axis, the upper chamber te escopin into' said' lower chamber and having a rim flange extending away from 'its t e flange ofthe lower chamber, and a vent tube running through said upper chamber but not communicating with Said upper chamber.

14. In a device of the character described, a receptacle comprising two chambers, the lower .chamber composed of an'upwardly -opening vessel, the upper chamber-telescoping into said lower chamber, an expansion pocket in the said upper chamber the upper part of'said pocket connecting with the atmosphere; andthe lower'part connecting with the said lower chamber.

JOSEPH c. coULoMBE. Witnesses: I

SAM PoULIo'r i Wmrnnn M. nnan'r. 

